April 08, 2011

New at ScrapMatters today! The Poppies Collection is 20% off through Sunday (and get it for even a better deal with the coupon below!).

This collection is a combination of reds, yellows, greens, and blues with rich patterns and unique embellishments. Perfect for capturing moments of summer fields, bright sunny days, and fun times! The colors are great for so many occassions!

And I have special savings for my blog readers! Use coupon BlogCoupon10 and get 10% off ANYTHING in my store until 4/15 - even CU items.

I have a pretty big to do list today including the CT call, newsletter freebie, FB fan freebie, etc so I am headed back to work. Enjoy your day!

March 18, 2011

♥ NEWS ♥

Sign up for Jeanine DeOre's NEW newsletter to get these awesome team freebies, coupons, news, photoshop tips / tutorials and more! The first newsletter is going out SOON so hurry and subscribe HERE!

♥ NEW at ScrapMatters ♥

I am really excited to finally show you my collaboration project with the talented Mary of Plum Dumpling Designs! Sunshine in your Heart is 20% off through Sunday ONLY so don't wait! Hopefully you grabbed the coordinating freebie in the ScrapMatters March newsletter too (we were featured this month)...

Here is some inspiration for you!

Some of the team freebies shown above are made using Sunshine in your Heart so they coordinate perfectly!

♥ Reminders ♥

♥ Final Thoughts ♥

Finally for all of you who love CU stuff, I HAVE to mention the new CU Grab Bag Collab by Happy Scrap Girl and Amanda Rockwell... Pure awesomeness! I love their CU products (great quality) so when I found out they were working together I was really looking forward to see what they came up with! Put it in your cart along with my blog special CU grab bag and you will be designing like a pro in no time!

That is it for today - off to enjoy some sunshine (finally in NJ!!) with my kiddos! Have a great weekend and put some sunshine in your cart heart (lol)! :)

Next up - everyone likes a freebie right? What about a free miniKIT? Your wish is my command!!! Just head over to my facebook fan page and click "like". You will then get an exclusive coupon to get my Charm Minikit FREE!

March 04, 2011

I am really excited to share my new grab bag available exclusively at ScrapMatters this week! This one was by request. One of my fabulous CT members (Betty) had asked me to create some "solid-ish" black and white papers for her stash after being inspired by Gennifer's gallery here. Basically, we all need some go-to essentials in our digi arsenal right? Especially for those layouts that we want to keep on the simple side so the photo and/or journaling demand our full attention...

After Betty gave me the inspiration, I designed 8 new CU/PU "papers" (part of my new Essentials line) and 8 CU/PU edges (to continue with my Grunge It - Edges series) and came up with a grab bag at 70% off regular price! I know you are going to use these papers and edges over and over so this price is really amazing!!! But you really HAVE to hurry because I am only going to keep it at 70% off for this week. Then the grab bag will be gone and the pieces will be available separately at full price.

Wanna see what is included? Keep scrolling!

To get you started with my new essentials line, I did up a freebie for you (yay)!

But first, a tip!

To get more bang for your buck, you can easily change the black papers in my grab bag to white and the white to black by simply inversing the colors (ctrl+i in photoshop for windows). I talk about that technique a lot because I use it all the time, especially when I am using textures. Try it with the freebie below - open up the white paper and click ctrl+i. Cool huh?

So let's jazz it up. Keeping your white paper layer selected (still on "soft light"), go to Image->Adjustments->Levels, or ctrl+l. A funky box pops up with a lopsided mountain right? Now again, I am not going to get all technical. I am all for keeping things simple!!!

My rule of thumb when playing with textures is I want balance. Right now we have too much "white". I start by sliding the left slider to the right - nearly to the end. I slide the right slider a bit to the left.

I now have this (freebie file "step3"):

Now we are talking! There might be too much texture now, so I am going to lower the opacity of that white paper layer a bit.

And here is my finished paper (freebie file "step4")!

And there you have it! A quick and easy way to use my black and white papers to create all different colored / textured designs!

The freebie file includes the sample files above and one white and one black "paper". If you liked this tutorial and freebie, please check out my grab bag! Thank you! :-)

Here is the freebie link again in case you missed it above - DOWNLOAD HERE.

Make sure to also see my tutorial on using edges here - you will be designing your own papers in no time!

February 16, 2011

Wow! I am so happy to hear how you all have been using the grab bag (thanks for the messages!)! Sounds like another one might be a good idea...

For those of you who want in on the fun, just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day for the super grab bag savings of 70% ($14.96 regular price down to $4.49!). All the pieces will be available individually after that for their full price so snag it now!

Switching gears...

I have been playing with some photoshop actions (ANYTHING to make designing easier!) and I bought one the other day that I love... it is Action:Cover It by Studio Wendy. You have to adjust the settings to your liking which she mentions, but boy is it a total time saver! I totally recommend it!

The other action I have been using a lot is Happy Scrap Girl's PNG Layer Saver Action. If you do templates especially you will use this action constantly! The best part is it removes your shadows. Sometimes I do a layout and make elements along the way, and then I use this action to save all the parts. Great stuff!

I really don't like buying CU products unless it has gotten reviewed by someone I "know", so I thought I would post if I use any tools that I like. Maybe it will make parting with that paypal money a bit easier!!! LOL!!

February 11, 2011

As I hinted yesterday, I have for sale my first ever commercial use grab bag, complete with tips and suggestions on how to use textures and edges (and scroll down for more)! It is marked down 70% (only $4.49, a $14.96 value) only until February 17. After that the items will be sold separately at their regular price.

The grab bag includes 2 Edge 4-Packs (8 total) and 2 Texture 4-Packs (8 total) and 2 suggestion/tip sheets. Great for designers and fun for personal use / scrapbook projects too! I love adding edges to my layouts for a finished look.

Do your designs need some extra pizazz? Do you feel your designs look "flat" and need some depth? Do you like the grungy / worn look but just can't get it to look right? Or are you like me and just love playing with different textures on your designs? Then the included textures are perfect for you!

Do your papers and layouts need that finishing touch? Do you feel like there is something missing to add some realism? Or are you like me and love the look of different inked and grungy edges? Then the included edges are exactly what you are looking for!

Want an example on how these can work to change the look of your papers and projects? Click on the thumbnails below.

In the teal example above, I started with a new 12x12 document and filled it with a color (you can use a paper instead if you would like). I selected one of the textures in my grab bag and layered it on top of the color/paper. Then the fun happens! I played with the blending modes until I picked one I liked (in this case I used "overlay"). That is it! Easy peasy!

But I wanted to go a step further - I like adding edges/borders. I feel like it makes my pages look "finished". So I chose one of the edges included in the grab bag and changed the blending mode to "soft light". Done!

In the purple example, I used the same texture but inversed the colors (ctrl+i in photoshop) to give it a different look, and used "soft light". I also used the same edge also but added a glitter style to it. Same texture, same edge, but totally different look!

You can download the full resolution papers and the above example here if you would like!

Well, speaking of designing, I have a special edition grab bag coming tomorrow to ScrapMatters and it is commercial use okay - at a huge 70% off!! Make sure you grab it before it is gone... I think PU scrappers will love it too!

February 01, 2011

Welcome to all the passengers of the February 2011 Blog Train, My Heart's Dream. The download is toward the end of this post.

But first, if you missed out on the New Release sale of LoveBirds, you are in luck! Due to popular demand it is now 25% off. Use the coupon below and save even more! Perfect for all of your Valentine, Easter and Spring photos.

And last but NOT least, we have the blog train! This month's theme is "My Heart's Dream." The blog train starts at the Blog Train blog (always go back to the beginning if you get a little lost!) and there are over 100 designers participating this month!